Larry Briggs

Larry Briggs, 71, of Jefferson City, was born March 18, 1949, at Homer G. Phillips Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri to Eunice Briggs (D) and Dorothy Briggs (Jacobs) (D) and raised in Charleston, Missouri.  Larry was a member of Quinn Chapel AME Church in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Larry graduated from Charleston High School, located in Charleston, Missouri, in 1967.  There Larry ran track and played basketball.  He was a member of the starting five for Charleston High School’s first team to win a regional championship and a state playoff game during the 1966 – 1967 season with Joe Lee Jones, Gary Betts, Reuben Brown, and Charlie Babb.  He also became the first All-State basketball player in Charleston Blue Jay history.

Larry graduated from Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Missouri and received a Bachelor’s Degree. He was a two-sport, four-year letterman in both track & field and basketball.  In track, he excelled as a triple jumper, a long jumper, and a high jumper, becoming the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association triple jump champion in 1969. His best triple jump recorded was 49 feet, 2.5 inches. He along with the 1969 track team were inducted into the 2010 Southeast Missouri State University Athletic Hall of Fame.

After graduation, Larry joined the 42 ^nd Recruit Class for the Missouri State Highway Patrol and began 22 weeks of basic training.  He graduated from the Missouri State Highway Patrol Law Enforcement Academy in April 1973,  and retired from headquarters as a Corporal after 20 years of service.  He later began a second career working for the United States Postal Service before retiring in 2004.

High school sweethearts, Larry and Glenda Joyce Briggs (Lane) were united in marriage in Charleston, Missouri December 24, 1972.  From this union they had two children, Laryssa and Lerone.  Larry adored his children, and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren were the apple of his eye.  He believed the mark of a man was not the things you give to your children, but the time that you spent with your children.  Larry spent much of his free time fishing, gardening, and spending time with his grandchildren.  Many often can recall some of his best sayings “Well, Well, Well” when he was in disbelief, “Be Chilli” if you were acting up, and “Right On, Right On” when you had done something cool in his eyes.  The most famous saying was “Who’s the Greatest Uncle in the world!? and Who’s the Greatest Dad in the world!?” Larry had a vivacious personality, was a superb storyteller, and always made people around him laugh.  He was a friend to many and loved by all.

He is preceded in death by his parents Eunice Briggs and Dorothy Briggs (Jacobs), sisters Bertha Kelly, Maxcine Hawthorne, and Earline Hudson.  He leaves to cherish in loving memory his wife Glenda Briggs of Jefferson City, Missouri, his daughter Laryssa (Alvin) Creswell of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, his son Lerone (Aimee) Briggs of Jefferson City, Missouri; his grandchildren Isaiah Briggs, Xavier Briggs, Akil Creswell, Lanee Briggs, Laila Simone Creswell; and one great-granddaughter Ava Jewell Briggs.  He is also survived by his brothers Daniel Briggs, Gary, Indiana, Tommy Briggs, California and Sherdell “Dell”(Debbie) Briggs of Iowa City, Iowa and sister Shirley (Robert) Dilworth, Litchfield Park, Arizona.

Family and friends are invited to attend visiting hours on Monday, August 10, 2020, from 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., at the Williams Funeral Home in Charleston, Missouri.  The funeral service and interment will be private.